One known quality control system for cigarette filter manufacture is sold under the trade mark QUARTET by Filtrona Instruments and Automation Limited. This system provides an automated statistical analysis of current quality trends which enables a machine operator to take whatever corrective action is deemed necessary. The system operates by picking up filters from the production line, measuring a number of filter parameters for each filter, displaying the measured parameters and developing a statistical analysis of the filter parameters. The system has a disadvantage in that it leaves the corrective action necessary to the machine controller to determine and implement. This is both slow and prone to inaccuracies.